Statutes | Klamath Juvenile Ordinance Title 2 Chapter 15 ยง 15.37 | 2020
(a) Foster Care. Any child accepted for foster care, preadoptive placement, or long term placement shall be placed in a safe setting that is the least restrictive (most family like) and most appropriate setting available in close proximity to the parents home, consistent with the best interest and special needs of the child. In every foster care, preadoptive placement, or long term placement of a Klamath child, the Juvenile Court shall give a preference in the following order to a placement with:
(1) a member of the Klamath childs extended family
(2) a Klamath Indian foster care home licensed, approved, certified, and/or specified by the Klamath Tribes
(3) an Indian foster care home licensed, approved, certified, and/or specified by the Klamath Tribes
(4) an Indian foster care home certified by the State of Oregon
(5) a non-Indian foster care home licensed, approved, certified, and/or specified by the state of Oregon and/or the Klamath Tribes and agreed to for the placement of each Klamath child on a case-by-case basis or
(6) an institution for children approved by the Klamath Tribes or operated by an Indian organization which has a program suitable to meet the special needs of a Klamath child.
(b) In all cases where Klamath children are placed in non-Klamath foster homes, mandatory cultural training will be provided by the Klamath Tribes. In all such cases, the Social Services Department shall conduct periodic reviews to address the issue of potential bonding of the non-Klamath foster parents to the Klamath child and to determine whether the Klamath child should be removed and placed in another foster home until a Klamath Indian foster care home is available. It shall be the policy of the Klamath Tribes that the interest of a non-Klamath foster parent in a Klamath child that could develop through bonding shall not outweigh the right and interest of a Klamath child to be raised in a Klamath home and to experience the culture of the Klamath Tribes on a daily basis.
(c) Adoptive Placement. In every adoptive placement of a Klamath child, the Juvenile Court shall give preference in the following order to a placement with:
(1) a member of the Klamath childs extended family
(2) other members of the Klamath Tribes or
(3) other Indian families.
(d) In the case of either adoptive or foster care placement of a Klamath child, the Tribal Council of the Klamath Tribes may, by resolution, alter the placement preferences set forth in this section provided that any such placement determined thereafter shall be the least restrictive and most appropriate setting consistent with the best interest and needs of the Klamath child,